Shorthanded Arizona loses in overtime to ASU, 95-88

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Arizona State beat Arizona in Tempe tonight in overtime, 95-88.

It's been a long time coming, but Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devils finally get their win over Arizona.

The Wildcats (14-8, 5-4) were without the services of injured guard Brandon Williams for the entire game and center Chase Jeter returned from his back injury, but was not at 100 percent. Still, the Wildcats battled with Ryan Luther answering the call with 19 points, including 5 of 8 from three-point range. Justin Coleman ran the show with 19 points and nine assists, while Brandon Randolph added 17 points and Dylan Smith chipped in 11. Ira Lee scored eight points and Jeter battled with seven points and eight rebounds.

Arizona, down 36-33 at the half, made 14 of 28 from long range for the night and scored 50 points in the second half -- including a three-pointer from Coleman with 25 seconds left to tie the game in regulation, 83-83.

The Wildcats went into overtime without Smith, who had fouled out with 2:42 left in regulation. Arizona was simply out manned in the overtime period and couldn't keep Remy Martin from scoring. Martin finished the game with 31 points.

Arizona enjoyed its first lead in the second half when Randolph banked in a shot to put the Wildcats up 61-59 with 8:08 remaining. Luther hit back to back three-pointers to give Arizona a 67-61 lead, but Martin led ASU back with a three-pointer and a layup, while Zylan Cheatham finished up the Sun Devil scoring down the stretch when he jammed one home to give ASU the lead, 83-80.

Coleman followed with his long-range three-pointer to tie the game and ASU unleashed an air ball. The ball went out of bounds and Arizona was awarded the final possession, but Luther's full-court pass went off the fingertips of Jeter, sending the game into overtime.

The Sun Devils dominated from there, outscoring the Wildcats, 12-5.



  

The little bat that could

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Billy Heiny, the second oldest player on the Tucson Old Timers at 89 years of age, came across a new weapon today at Udall Park -- a 28 inch, 19.5 ounce aluminum baseball bat.

The bat appeared out of nowhere and it felt good in the hands of Heiny and he decided to give it a try. In his first plate appearance, he doubled down the first baseline and in his second at bat, he singled to center. Two hits, a run scored and one run batted in as he led Team White to a 13-2 win over Team Blue in a 60-and-over TOTS' game.

Now, there is probably more to the story regarding the sudden appearance of the bat -- who owns it, where it came from, but today it was just a "magic bat" and it appeared out of nowhere. Heiny, who turns 90 in August, now has a new piece of lumber (aluminum, that is) to add to his bat bag.

Heiny, the bat...and the rest of the TOTS will return to action on Friday at Udall. Game time: 10 a.m.

Chances are the "little bat that could" will find its way back into Billy's hands.

Photos: 1) Billy's new bat, 2) the man himself, 89-year-old Billy Heiny.

Garcia's sacrifice fly gives Team White walk-off win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Ray Garcia, 66, hit a one-out, bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center field to score the winning run for a  walk-off 3-2 victory for Team White over Team Blue today at Udall Park.

The game turned into a pitching duel for seven innings between Team Blue's Pete Maldonado and Team White's Mike Dawson. Both pitchers walked just one batter during the well-played game.

Team Blue jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning thanks to a home run over the center field fence by hard-hitting lefty Tim Tolson. Team White battled back with a lone run in the fifth to cut the Team Blue lead in half and both teams headed into the seventh inning in hopes of putting together a winning rally. Unfortunately for Team Blue, they failed to score in the top of the inning and Team White quickly tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a fielder's choice play and then loaded the bases with just one out.

Garcia stepped to the plate to face Maldonado. Both players are life long friends and went to the same high school in da Bronx more than 50 years ago. So, the bottom of the seventh inning turned into a New York minute for the two players and one of them would likely end up the game's hero.

Maldonado tried to pitch carefully to his former high school classmate, but Garcia got just enough on the ball to send a fly ball to Team Blue's center fielder Pete Peters. At third was the TOTS' tallest player, the 6-foot-5 Reed Palmer, who tagged up and scored easily with the game winner.

Catcher Mike Steele led Team White with three hits today and a walk. Tolson knocked in all of Team Blue's runs, while Peters collected two hits in a losing cause. Floyd Lance, 92, saw three innings of action for Team Blue at first base -- his first action of the year at the position.

The TOTS return to action on Wednesday at Udall. Game time: 10 a.m.

Photo: Garcia

Cold shooting Wildcats head for Tempe to face Sun Devils

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The Arizona Wildcats (14-7, 5-3) take on Arizona State in Tempe on Thursday in hopes of regaining their shooting touch. The cold shooting Wildcats, playing without an inside game due to the loss of Chase Jeter, missed 52 shots from the field in a 80-57 loss last Thursday at USC and 44 more misfires tonight in a lopsided loss to UCLA, 90-69.

A tough stretch for the Wildcats. Unfortunately, the Wildcats will enter Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday in Tempe for their third straight road game. The rims there are unfriendly. The crowd will be unfriendly. Nothing is going Arizona's way.

Go get 'em, Wildcats! Hang in there.

Daliege dazzles in TOTS' win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Bob Daliege, 70, pitched seven strong innings and went 3 for 4 at the plate with four RBI to lead Team Blue to a 9-4 win over Team White today at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

Daliege allowed one run in the first inning and gave up three runs in the bottom of the seventh when Team White pieced together a two-out rally. Pete Peters and Reed Palmer led Team White with two hits apiece.

Today's game was a long one -- 2 1/2 hours in seven innings, but the TOTS enjoyed a sunny day and a temperature in the mid 60s by the end of the game. The TOTS return to action on Monday at Udall. Game time: 10 a.m.

Photo: Daliege

Big John leads Team White to 12-2 win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Big John Mathews went 4 for 4, scored twice and drove in three runs to lead Team White to a 12-2 win today at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game. Joe Opocensky pitched all seven innings for Team White and picked up the win, while Reed Palmer suffered the loss.

Team White jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings and cruised the rest of the way. The TOTS return to action on Friday at Udall. Game time: 10 a..m.

Photo: Mathews

"Double D" Ducklow knocks in game winner

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Dick "Double D" Ducklow knocked in three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Team White an 8-5 win over Team Blue today at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

Tim Boyd pitched a complete game for Team White, while Joe Opocensky pitched six innings for Team Blue and absorbed the loss.

The TOTS return to action at Udall on Wednesday. Game time: 10 a.m.

Photo: Ducklow

Wildcats beat Beavers without Jeter

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Coming off a loss on their home court on Thursday to Oregon (59-54), the Wildcats found a little more adversity when they lost their star center Chase Jeter in the first half of tonight's game against the Oregon State Beavers at McKale.

Instead of folding, the Wildcats went to work and hit 13 of 27 from beyond the arc en route to a 82-71 win over the Beavers to improve to 5-1 in Pac-12 play and 14-5 overall. Five players scored in double figures with Brandon Williams leading the way with 20 points and five assists. Ryan Luther came off the bench to add a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Justin Coleman scored 14, Dylan Smith added 13 and Brandon Randolph had a tough shooting night but scored 10 points.

Alex Barcello gave the Wildcats a lift off the bench with a pair of 3-pointers.

As for Jeter, he took a tumble early in the first half, but returned for the second half and sat on the bench.

Next up a trip to southern California for games against USC on Thursday and UCLA on Saturday.

Urtaza makes play of the day in TOTS' game

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Miguel Urtaza, 76, made the play of the day in the sixth inning at today's 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game at Udall Park. Playing right field for Team Blue, Urtaza surprised everyone -- included Pete Peters, Team White's runner at second base.

Hard-hitting lefty Reed Palmer sent a towering fly ball to the warning track and Urtaza made the catch. Peters was easily doubled up at second base.

Despite Urtaza's catch, Team White went on to win the game 3-1 as right-hander Mike Dawson picked up the win and out dueled Team Blue's Bob Daliege.

Way to go, Miguel!

The Tucson Old Timers return to action on Monday at Udall. Game time: 10 a.m.

Photo: Miguel

Team White wins lopsided game 13-1

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Tim Boyd, Mike Steele, Tim Tolson and Mike Dawson combined for 14 hits as Team White trounced Team Blue 13-1 on Monday at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

Team Blue managed to score just one run off right-hander Pete Maldonado, who pitched seven strong innings to pick up the win. Lloyd Barzell started for Team Blue and took the loss. Team Blue couldn't get anything going through out the game. Team White centerfielder Bill Mishler made the play of the day in the first inning when he went to his right and backhanded a hard hit fly ball. It was that kind of a day for Team Blue as every hard hit found its way into a glove of a Team White defender.

The TOTS return to action on Wednesday with a 10 a.m game at Udall. Weather permitting.

Arizona improves to 4-0 in Pac-12 play

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Arizona edged Stanford 75-70 Wednesday night and backed up the win with a 87-65 thumping tonight in Berkeley over the California Golden Bears to improve to 4-0 in the Pac-12 Conference and 13-4 overall.

Chase Jeter led the Wildcats with a career-high 23 points, while Brandon Williams finished with 16 points, Justin Coleman chipped in 13 points and Brandon Randolph added 12 points as Arizona rolled in this one. Arizona led 40-28 at the half and ended up shooting 55.4 percent on the night, netting 32 of 57 shots -- including 8 of 19 from three-point range.

Finally, a sunny day

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Finally, a sunny day.

The 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers have had their share of rain outs, but today the old timers were back in action as Team White pulled out a 7-2 win over Team Blue at Udall Park. Reed Palmer went the distance for Team White and picked up the win, while Arnie White went 3 for 3 at the plate and Dick Ducklow drove in three runs.

Bob Daliege was saddled with the loss, but had two hits for Team Blue as did Lloyd Barzell and Ron Ryan.

The TOTS return to action on Wednesday. Game time: 10 a.m.

The 2018 season stats are in and 45 players recorded at bats last year. The club's top hitter in 2018 was Barzell, who banged out 213 hits and had 400 at bats for a healthy .533 batting average. Also among the hit leaders were Tim Tolson (195 hits and a .559 batting average), Reed Palmer (166 hits and a .604 average), Doc Thompson (156 hits and a .567 average) and John Mathews (140 hits and a .603 average).

Other players with over 100 hits in 2018, included Mike Dawson (130 hits and a .580 average), Ron Petersen (119 hits and a .556 average), Bob Daliege (118 hits and a .527 average), Dennis Crowley (115 hits and a .489 average), Joe Opocensky (111 hits and a .541 average) and Jesse Ochoa (103 hits and a .406 average).

Palmer led the club in home runs with a single-season club record of 29 and he finished first in RBI with 180. Tolson was second in runs-batted-in with 163, Thompson was third with 111 and Mathews finished fourth on the club in RBI with 104.

Barzell played in the most games (120) and his 400 at bats was tops on the club. Bill Mishler edged out Palmer for the most walks during the season with 43. Palmer was second with 42 free passes -- most of those were intentional.

The 50th season is in the books. The TOTS are off and running in 2019 -- the club's 51st season.

Photos above: Lloyd Barzell, who led the club in hits in 2018 with 213 and Reed Palmer, who led the club in home runs with 29 and RBI with 180.

Arizona 2-0 in Pac-12

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Chase Jeter and Brandon Randolph scored 21 points apiece and the Arizona Wildcats (11-4, 2-0) edged Utah 84-81 in overtime at McKale today. Coupled with Arizona's win on Thursday over Colorado (64-56), the Wildcats jump out to a great start in Pac-12 Conference play at 2-0.

Arizona earned its 11th win of the season and received double figure scoring from Brandon Williams and Dylan Smith, both with 11 points. Jeter added another double-double with 13 rebounds today.